Super Mario Bros. 2 (2024)

Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as Super Mario USA in Japan) is, outside Japan, is the second game in the Super Mario series. It is a 2D platforming game originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was originally released in North America on October 9, 1988. One of the central game mechanics that differentiates Super Mario Bros. 2 from other Super Mario games is that the player can select four characters: Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Toadstool, and each of these characters have their unique gameplay mechanics, offering advantages and disadvantages in their stats. Another distinction is that players cannot defeat enemies by stomping on them: players need to either toss items at enemies or pick up and toss enemies at each other to defeat them.

Super Mario Bros. 2 came about after Nintendo of America deemed Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels too difficult for Western audiences, which led Nintendo to redevelop the Famicom Disk System game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic into a Super Mario Bros. game for the international release. After its release, the game became a commercial success, and eventually the game became well received enough that it was also released in Japan. Many enemies first introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2 include Bomb-ombs, Pokeys, Shy Guys, and more.

Development[]

Super Mario Bros. 2 started out as a prototype Mario-style platform game developed by Kensuke Tanabe, a developer for Nintendo. The prototype game emphasized vertically scrolling levels and throwing blocks. It was originally intended to be a two player co-op game, allowing players to toss each other around. However, the technical limitations of the NES system made it difficult to produce a polished game with these elements. It was decided to add more Mario-like elements, such as horizontal levels (although many vertically oriented levels were retained in the final project). Some time later, the Fuji Television Company requested that Nintendo create a video game using Yume Kojo mascots, and Tanabe developed the prototype into Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, which became one of the best-selling games for the Famicom Disk System.

In 1987, Nintendo of America got its first look at the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo of America believed that Super Mario Bros. 2, which was a slightly altered version of the first Super Mario Bros. game with an increased difficulty level, would not be a commercial success in the United States and elsewhere in the world. To deal with this, Nintendo took the finished Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and reverted the licensing changes to once again feature Mario and his friends as playable characters. The game would later be released in Japan under the name Super Mario USA in 1992.

Story[]

Story from the Instruction Booklet

One night, Mario had a strange dream. He found himself climbing a long staircase leading up to a mysterious door. Opening the door, Mario's eyes fell upon an incredible world unlike anything he'd ever seen. A quiet voice spoke to Mario, saying,

"Welcome to Subcon, the land of dreams. Our once-beautiful world now suffers at the hands of the evil Wart. Please help us! Only you can free us from his tyranny. Oh, and remember one thing: Wart hates vegetables."

However, before Mario could figure out what was happening, he suddenly awoke on his bed and realized it was all a dream. The next day, while heading out to a picnic with his friends Luigi, Princess Toadstool, andToad, Mario told the tale of his strange dream. Hearing this was quite a shock to his friends, who all had the very same dream the night before.

Upon arriving at their picnic spot, the group noticed a small cave. Inside was a long staircase that led up to a door. At the top, the four friends opened the door and stood shocked by what they saw. It was Subcon-the world of their dreams!

See Also

SMB Most Important Features | Visuality Systems[MS-SMB2]: OverviewPacket Carving with SMB and SMB2 | Chris SandersSMB security enhancements

Mario discovers that Subcon has been taken over by Wart and that the events of his dream are true. Mario and co. are now on a quest to defeat Wart and restore peace to the dream world. At the end of the game, Mario, Luigi, Toadstool, and Toad are seen being chanted on by the inhabitants of Subcon, who are carrying Wart across the room. Mario then wakes up and wonders if the events were true or just a dream. He then continues sleeping and the game ends.

In-Game Story

When Mario opened a door after climbing a long stair in his dream, another world

spread out before him and he heard a (faint) voice call for help to be freed from a spell.

After awakening, Mario went to a cave nearby and to his surprise he saw exactly what

he saw in his dream....

Gameplay[]

Since the game is based on Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, it has little in common with the original Super Mario Bros. For example, in order to defeat enemies, the player needs to pluck blades of grass to receive items (such as vegetables), and then throw the vegetables at them. It is also possible to defeat enemies by jumping on them, picking them up, and then throwing them into other enemies. There are a few elements in common with its predecessor, however, such as the appearance of the Health Mushroom and Starman, although the former has a different function. Additionally, there are no power-ups in the game that grant the player additional abilities in the Super form, such as the ability to shoot fireballs, making Super Mario Bros. 2 one of the only 2D Super Mario titles to not have additional forms after the Super form.

At the beginning of each level, the player can choose between the playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool. All four characters have different powers and statistics. When entering the next level or losing a life, players can select a different character.

At the end of most levels of the game, the player fights Birdo. The player has to jump on the eggs that Birdo spits, grab them, and throw them back, hitting Birdo three times to gain a crystal which opens the Mask Gate at the end of the level. There are several colors of Birdos: pink, which only spits eggs; red, which spits eggs and fireballs; and green, which only spits fireballs. For the green Birdos, there are Mushroom Blocks nearby for the player to use instead.

There are seven worlds in this game. The first six has three levels apiece, and the seventh has two. At the end of each world, the player encounters one boss. Mouser is encountered at the end of World 1, Tryclyde in World 2, Mouser again in World 3, Fryguy in World 4, Clawgrip in World 5, Tryclyde again in World 6, and Wart himself in World 7.

Defeated enemies and Birdo can re-spawn if the player runs one screen away from the area where they normally appear and return, which may allow the player to defeat the enemies again in order to regain health if necessary.

Appearances[]

References to other games[]

• Donkey Kong: Clawgrip tosses rocks in a very similar manner to the way Donkey Kong tossed barrels. Also, clawgrip frequently bangs his chest like a gorilla.
• Donkey Kong Jr.: Sparks reappear in Super Mario Bros. 2. This makes them the only returning enemies to appear.
• Mario Bros.: POW Blocks appear as usable items.
• Super Mario Bros.: The Starman power-up appears in this game, as well as a remix of the overworld theme from Super Mario Bros. played in Sub-space. Also, the Super Mushroom item, which originated from this game, appears in Super Mario Bros. 2, as well as the ability to shrink once the player is down to one heart point. Also, the ability to run by holding down the B button is exclusive to the Mario series, and was not present in Doki Doki Panic. The title theme is a rearrangement of the underwater theme from this game.
• Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels: Luigi being a higher jumper jumper than Mario is re-established when he replaced Mama in the game.

References in later media[]

• Super Mario Bros. 3: Bob-ombs return here and act similarly as in Super Mario Bros. 2 Also, Mario can pick up shells or Ice Blocks to throw them. Desert, sky, and snow themes of levels and doors returned. Players can earn lives via the Spade Panel slot machine. Princess Toadstool's sprite is also reused here.

Trivia[]

• The Mario picture that appears in the box art is a flipped and modified version of the picture that appears on the Super Mario Bros. box art.
• If the player takes the shortest route possible, the only bosses the player needs to fight are Birdo, Tryclyde, Mask Gate, and Wart.